1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to transactional systems and methods and more specifically to systems and methods for purchasing goods and or services over a global computer network.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As more and more consumers gain access to the World Wide Web or Internet, the prospect of the sale of goods and or services over the Internet continues to urge businesses to set up a network presence to support their customer base and attract new customers. Many larger businesses are moving toward providing an on-line presence to supply additional information and services to their customers at their customers"" convenience, to reduce costs, and to remain competitive in the marketplace. Smaller businesses are likewise attracted to the Internet to expand and attract a larger customer base and reduce operating costs.
The on-line presence established by such business merchants is typically a home page simulating a store front displaying the merchant""s logos or other design features that set that particular merchant apart from others. Other information such as advertised items and contact information also adorn the page. Additional web pages are generally provided if necessary to convey additional information. Merchants also typically sell or rent unused space on their web page to other piggybacking advertisers to help with costs of maintaining both the web site and the business. In accordance with preferred advertising practices, continued exposure of the consumer to such displays is of paramount importance.
Purchasing items over the Internet involves the selection of salable items on the merchant""s web site after browsing or searching the contents of the related web pages until the desired item is found. The item is then selected and typically placed into an on-line shopping cart which holds the items while the purchaser continues to shop. Other items may be selected and placed into the cart in a similar manner. When the purchaser desires to buy the items previously selected, he or she selects an icon associated with a checkout process. This brings up a screen displaying the shopping cart items and requesting that the purchaser confirm the previous selections. Upon confirmation of the selected items, another screen is displayed which includes a form requesting information such as shipping and billing information including a method of payment. The medium of exchange relied upon by the merchants for Internet sales is almost exclusively limited to credit cards and debit cards.
After completing the form including credit card selection and corresponding information, the consumer submits the information which causes one of two situations to occur. In one instance, the current display remains in view while the credit card information is being processed in the background. In such case, the merchant remains in communication with the validation agency awaiting confirmation of the transaction. On the other occasion, the display page is changed to reflect the creditor""s site which removes the merchant""s display and associated advertising from the view of the consumer.
Several drawbacks are apparent in the current transactional systems and processes. First of all, the almost exclusive use of credit based transactions removes a large pool of potential customers from purchasing over the Internet. Since many advertisers largely focus on today""s youth due to their increased spending means, it would be useful to provide a medium of exchange independent of credit based transactions available to such patrons. Also, not everyone has the luxury of an established credit line or even desires to rely on credit. Another drawback occurs in the first situation wherein the merchant remains in communication with validation authority until the transaction is verified. If the transaction is not viable, then valuable time and resources are wasted by occupying the merchant""s server during verification of an eventually invalid transaction. It would therefore be advantageous to provide a system and process that relieves the merchant from the verification process and only contacts the merchant if a transaction is viable due to sufficient funds.
A pre-paid account or pre-paid card would address the drawbacks of prior systems and would provide both benefits to the merchant by increasing the potential customer base and consumers as well. Consumers benefit by preventing credit card fraud, purchasing cards only as necessary, and living debt free. Purchases can remain relatively anonymous as in ordinary cash transactions and no interest accrues on the purchases keeping overall cost to the consumer down.
Additionally, the low cost of Internet access and obtaining information is primarily driven by advertising. Both the merchants and associated advertisers have a vested interest in presenting their ads in the customer""s view as long as possible. Therefore, any time when advertising is not being viewed the value of the advertising effectively decreases. Thus, in the second instance when the consumer is sent to an alternate network location and the merchant""s display is replaced with the creditor""s display, valuable advertising time is lost.
Yet another drawback is the requirement that the consumer provide shipping information every time the merchant site is visited and a purchase is desired. Typically, upon selection of the goods or services, a form with a shipping order is transmitted to the purchaser to fill out. This is performed using the merchant""s computer resources which may increase the demand on the server. A system which removes the process of filling out shipping information to an alternate server unburdens the demands on the merchant""s server freeing valuable resources.
What is needed, and heretofore unavailable, is a convenient system capable of verifying the viability of a purchasing transaction conducted over a computer network which reduces the merchant""s resource requirements while maximizing the viewing time of the merchant""s display and a method of using the same.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a transactional system is provided for handling a purchasing transaction between a first party and a second party having at least a part of the transaction handled by an administrative third party to relieve some of the resource burden placed on the second party, typically a merchant. Such system generally includes a medium of exchange between the parties in the form of pre-paid cards having unique card identifiers provided in an unactivated format at convenient distribution sites. The cards may be activated at an activation site enabling the first party to begin a purchasing transaction. A global computer network provides the primary communication medium between the parties which have a presence on the network in the form of their respective processors and network addresses. The first party may view the public contents of the second party processor and make a selection of the desired items. A purchasing option with an embedded link is provided in the second party""s display and is programmed to, upon activation, transfer handling of the purchasing transaction to a third party processor which sends a substitute display substantially duplicating the second party""s display and requests information from the first party. Such third party processor receives the first party information and processes it using a transactional computer program and associated transactional database to verify the viability of such transaction. Notification of the fund verification is provided depending upon the outcome of the verification step.
Further provided are methods for using such system. One method may be applied to credit and non-credit based transactions. Such method includes steps of accessing a second party display on the global computer network and selecting a salable item along with a purchasing option. Selection of the purchasing option triggers an alternate server to send a preformatted display to a first party substantially duplicating the second party display and requesting information from a first party. Receipt of such first party response activates a computer program which accesses a transactional database to authorize the transaction. A successful transaction results in funds being transferred to a second party repository and portions of the first party response sent to the second party for completing the transaction.
Another method using the system of the present invention involves the steps of providing a pre-paid card distribution site capable of issuing pre-paid cards with unique card identifiers in exchange for currency. An accounting database is maintained for monitoring the balance associated with each card. A first network server provides a merchant site having a display page with a predetermined format advertising salable items and offering a pre-paid card purchasing option with a link. Activation of such link transfers administration of the transaction to a second network server which substitutes an alternate display substantially duplicating the merchant site display page and submits a form requesting purchaser information including the unique card identifier. The purchaser information is received and processed by the second network server which accesses the accounting database to verify an adequate account balance and to authorize the transaction. Funds are transferred from the pre-paid card account to the merchant account if the transaction is authorized. Additionally, the purchase information is forwarded from the second network server to the first (merchant) server.
Such system may also incorporate other features such as card to card balance transfers and recharging a pre-paid card.